Live 03 Jul 1985 version
One, two, one two three four!
[Spoken intro:] Hey, hey! ???. Here's a song... we were travelled down through Texas. There's a lot of people came down from up north, looking for work in the oil fields and the refineries. But when the price of oil went bad, they were shutting down the refineries. People coming down looking for a job and just... telling 'em to move on. They ended up sleeping in tents pitched out on the highway or in their cars. This is called "Seeds".
Well a great black river a man had found
So he put all his money in a hole in the ground
Sent a big steel arm driving down down down
Now I live on the streets of Houston town
Packed up my wife and kids when winter came along
And I headed down south with just spit and a song
But they said, "Sorry son it's gone gone gone,
Yeah it's all gone,
All work is gone"
There is men hunkered down by the railroad tracks
The Elkhorn Special blowing my hair back
Tents pitched on the highway in the dirty moonlight
And I don't know where I'm gonna sleep tonight
Parked in the lumberyard freezing our asses off
Kids in the back seat got a graveyard cough
I'm sleeping up in front with my wife
Billy club tapping on the windshield in the middle of the night
He says, "Move along son, move along"
Big limousine, long shiny and black
You don't look ahead, you don't look back
How many times can you get up after you've been hit
Well I swear if I could spare the spit
I'd lay one on your shiny chrome
And send you on your way back home
If you're gonna leave your town where the north wind blow
To come on down where the sweet soda river flow
You better think twice on it Jack
You're better off buying a shotgun straight off a rack
The only thing you're gonna find here, friend
The seeds blowing up the highway in the south wind
Moving on, moving on
Now it's gone gone gone
Yeah!
SEEDS is a song written by Bruce Springsteen. He recorded it in studio during the Born In The U.S.A. sessions and has since performed live on almost all subsequent tours.
According to Sony's logs of Bruce Springsteen's studio sessions, a song titled "Gone Gone Gone" was recorded on 25 and 31 Jul 1983 at The Hit Factory in New York City, NY. Recordings of that song have not yet been released or leaked. "Gone Gone Gone" may very well be SEEDS, or an early incarnation of it, since the lyrics "gone gone gone" appears in the second verse and at the end of SEEDS.
The above lyrics are for the live 03 Jul 1985 performance of SEEDS at Wembley Stadium in London, England, during the Born In The U.S.A. Tour. The song was played in a full-band arrangement.
Other versions of SEEDS were also officially released.
SEEDS was performed 31 times during the Born In The U.S.A. Tour (156 dates, June 1984 to October 1985) − including all 28 shows of the fourth (and last) leg of the tour. On this tour, the song was played in a full-band arrangement. The live 27 Sep 1985 version of SEEDS was released on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Sept 27, 1985 official live download in 2019. The live 30 Sep 1985 version of SEEDS was released on the Live/1975-85 box set in 1986.
SEEDS was performed 55 times during the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour (67 dates, February to August 1988). On this tour, the song was played in a full-band arrangement. The live 28 Mar 1988 version of SEEDS was released on the Joe Louis Arena, Detroit 1988 official live download in 2020. The live 23 Apr 1988 version of SEEDS was released on the LA Sports Arena, California 1988 official live download in 2015. The live 28 Apr 1988 version of SEEDS was released on the Los Angeles, April 1988 official live download in 2021. The live 23 May 1988 version of SEEDS was released on the Madison Square Garden 1988 official live download in 2019. The live 03 Jul 1988 version of SEEDS was released on the Stockholm Stadion, Sweden 1988 official live download in 2017.
SEEDS was performed 14 times during World Tour 1992-1993 (104 dates, June 1992 to June 1993). On this tour, the song was played in a solo acoustic arrangement. The live 24 Jun 1993 version of SEEDS was released on the Brendan Byrne Arena, New Jersey June 24, 1993 official live download in 2018.
In preparation for the October Assault Tour, SEEDS was practiced during the tour's private rehearsal that took place on 16 Oct 1995 at The Stone Pony in Asbuy Park, NJ.
SEEDS was performed once during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour (128 dates, November 1995 to May 1997), on 24 Apr 1996 in London, England. The song was played in a solo acoustic arrangement.
In preparation for The Reunion Tour, SEEDS is known to have been practiced during at least one of the private rehearsals that took place in March 1999 in Asbury Park prior to the tour's first leg.
SEEDS was sound-checked prior to the 02 Mar 2003 show in Austin, TX, (as far as it's known) but it was not performed on any of The Rising Tour's regular shows.
In preparation for the Working On A Dream Tour, SEEDS was performed during one of the tour's two public warm-up rehearsal shows that took place in March 2009 in Asbury Park.
SEEDS was performed 62 times during the Working On A Dream Tour (83 dates, April to November 2009). On this tour, the song was played in a full-band arrangement. The live 04 May 2009 version of SEEDS was released on the Nassau Coliseum 05.04.09 official live download in 2020. The live 28 Jun 2009 version of SEEDS was released on the London Calling: Live In Hyde Park home video in 2010. The live 07 Nov 2009 version of SEEDS was released on the MSG 11.07.09 official live download in 2020.
SEEDS was performed was performed 8 times during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013). On this tour, the song was played in a full-band arrangement.
SEEDS was performed was performed 6 times during the High Hopes Tour (34 dates, January to May 2014). On this tour, the song was played in a full-band arrangement. Audio recordings for most High Hopes Tour shows are officially available for purchase.
SEEDS as performed once during The River Tour 2016 (75 dates, January to September 2016), on 05 Jun 2016 in London, England. The song was played in a full-band arrangement. Audio recordings for all The River Tour 2016 shows are officially available for purchase.
SEEDS was performed off-tour on 13 Oct 1986 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA, during the first annual Bridge School Benefit. The song was played in an acoustic arrangement featuring guest appearances by Nils Lofgren on acoustic guitar and Danny Federici on accordion. The live 13 Oct 1986 version of SEEDS was released on the Bridge School October 13, 1986 official live download in 2019.
SEEDS was performed off-tour on 28 Oct 1995 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA, during the ninth Bridge School Benefit concert. The song was played in a solo acoustic arrangement.
SEEDS was performed off-tour on 25 Sep 2009 at Apollo Theater in New York City, NY, during the taping of "Spectacle: Elvis Costello With Bruce Springsteen". The song was played in a full-band arrangement. The live 25 Sep 2009 version of SEEDS was released on the Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... (Season 2) home video in 2011.
SEEDS was performed off-tour on 15 Mar 2012 at Moody Theater in Austin, TX, during the South By Southwest music festival. The song was played in a full-band arrangement.
At least 2 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's SEEDS.
List of available versions of SEEDS on this website:
SEEDS [Live 03 Jul 1985 version]
